Re piping a counter top griddle ( LP )

Ok, I have this nice shell of a 30" Toastmaster Griddle. Apparently at one point it was electric. Then converted to LP with a make-shift rig set up.
 
I have since acquired this griddle. I have all the holes for the piping, knobs etc. The challenge that lays before me is putting in new burners & gas pipes to the valves that control the knobs.
 
I have installed the gas lines in my mobile kitchen, so this shouldn't be too hard to do. Everything turned out real nice on the mobile.
 
Since all the guts are gone with the griddle, I can start fresh with everything new, including burners and ETC. I will be uploading pics tomorrow at some point of the griddle base. The two knob holes are on the right front side of the base even though there is one (currently non existent) burner on the left hand side of the base despite all controls being on one side.
 
Can anyone point me in the right direction to get the valves and piping & burners ?  I was thinking of going with 1/2 black iron but if there is something better out there, please let me know.

Wild dog,
I'm glad you brought this subject up. I also am putting together a griddle similar to what you described. Feed back will be extremely helpful to me as well.
 
My fall back plan is to get one of those 2 burner hobo freights stoves, and modify it to fit my needs. But I would prefer to use a "tube" type burner.
 So far I haven't been able to find valves to control the generic burners with.
 
Hope you get some helpful feed-back.
 
Mike
 

Wild, I went and googled your griddle. I didn't get your exact grill, but I was looking at the height of the ones that did come up, and I wonder if there is enough room inside of an electric unit to safely install gas burners?
 
My Cecilware griddle in my trailer is pretty tall from the bottom of its base to the underside of the griddle with lots of ventilation. The Toastmaster electrics that came up were narrow with no vent holes, I didn't see enough room in there to safely do a gas setup as I could see the compartment quickly filling with gas and when you go to light, boom.
 
Mike
 
 

Rubok


Wild dog,
I'm glad you brought this subject up. I also am putting together a griddle similar to what you described. Feed back will be extremely helpful to me as well.

My fall back plan is to get one of those 2 burner hobo freights stoves, and modify it to fit my needs. But I would prefer to use a "tube" type burner.
So far I haven't been able to find valves to control the generic burners with.

Hope you get some helpful feed-back.

Mike

 
Here is you griddle top, http://www.littlegriddle.com/
 
I have one in my garage, (very heavy and well constructed) for my yet to be built grill on my yet to be built cart. I bought the Harbor Freight three burner cook top to heat it http://www.harborfreight....-with-grill-99861.html
 
There are a few guys using this same setup on their homemade hot dog carts. Just build a fire box out of steel siding/flashing that you should be able to get at Lowes or Home Depot.
 
Mike

Localnet,
Thats exactly the set up I'm working on.
Perhaps you could answer one more question for me.
 
Concerning the burner-box.
I'm not sure of the construction matrieals used for a compleyed burner box.
Is it a box made out of wood, and then "lined" with metal? Or maybe a metal frame and "wrapped" with sheet metal?
 
I'm just not sure about having a floating sheet metal box hanging down there. It don't seem to me that sheet metal alone would be structurally sound enough. But I may be wrong about that.
 
Mike

I was measuring out the HF stove yesterday and think it will fit. My own roadblock to that is the knobs. Not sure the knobs will reach through. ( or the pegs actually ) lol.
 
My griddle is old and beastly, but if it can work for $40 vs buying a new one, I'm all for it ya know.  I will take some pics. I have yet to come across my toastmaster griddle anywhere. The grease trap is actually in the back of the griddle instead of in the front like most standards are. LOL

it's kinda cool how the EZ setup is seen all over the place.  It's ideas are incorporated all over.

Rubok, you need to buy the EZ hot dog cart build DVD, as the info is in there including the needed measurements so that you only have to do this once along with the proper materials list. I bought it, and it was worth every penny, as it has helped me understand allot of the workings of my own custom built trailer. 
 
Here is the link http://www.buildahotdogcart.com/
 
Mike

Well, I went out and bought the $39 grill from HF today, and basically gutted it. It was simple to do, Just remove the knobs, the screws and the screws that held the pilot parts in place. and installed it into my grill base.  I have to say it wasn't too bad of a fabrication. The only thing I had to purchase was a 1/2 drill bit to drill out the hole for the peg hole. ( plastic piece behind knob was big) So I drilled it to match the circular plate. It looks a little off centered, but the gold pieces are pretty much right underneath the griddle top with maybe an inch or a half inch to space in space. So the flame will spread quite nicely. Plus their were long screw shafts built into the bottom of the griddle top to heat up and spread around the heat ( my assumption, but the original set up was electric so who knows, But I had to bend the shafts back into the bottom of the grill top so they would hang up on the burners.) 

I have attached some pics of the before and after for your viewing pleasure.
 




 
So tomorrow I will switch the gas feed to the left side ( has more room to pipe it to the back of the grill base then the right side) and adjust the connection in the trailer and hopefully by noon I will have it tested and fired up.  I hope this works. I see no reason why it shouldn't. The only hangup I can see is that the burners are so close to the underneath of the griddle top that it might not function properly. However I am pretty sure all will be ok.
 
Thoughts ??

How are you going to light the left burner? I see holes to get a lighter in on the right side, how about the left? Or is there an electronic ignition system or pilot light orifice there that I cannot see? And I would be concerned about gas buildup inside of the body of the grill, I think you need more ventilation along the base.
 
And those burners look like they will give you two real hot spots on the griddle plate, I don't see how you will evenly cook your product? Or am I off base on that?
 
Mike

Wild,,,,,You are going to have 2 hot spots, and the rest stone cold. A grill burner is "U" shaped and spread the flame evenly across the grill surface.

chefbuba


Wild,,,,,You are going to have 2 hot spots, and the rest stone cold. A grill burner is "U" shaped and spread the flame evenly across the grill surface.

My thinking too.   U-shape or tube     .... And the burners are too close to the top or bottom of the grill plate.

I'm gonna give it a try and see what happens. Worse case scenario is I spent $40 on a stove I can put back together and take back and wasted a days time vs spending $800 on a new one.
 
If it works at 80% I will be happy, I'll just save to buy a new one. Only thing is that my counters are only 22" deep and most griddles are 25"-29" deep. This one is only 17" deep, so it makes sense to try it and it doesn't cost me anything.
 
I did lower the burners ( a few times ) made my base into swiss cheese, but now they are about 3" from the top/bottom of the griddle plate. Should make for a better burn surface.
 
I'll have it up and running in a few days, I'll report back to how it went. I don't doubt I'll have cold spots. I'm just hoping they are less than more. lol

Why not use the SS or cast iron burners from gas grills???  These & controls can be had for about the same price.  
http://allpartsgrills.com/item539802.ctlg
http://www.thepartsbiz.com/BBQ-Grillware-Gas-Grill-Tube-Burner-Stainless-Steel-Pipe-Burner-12611_p_1340.html
 
I don't have a link for the control valve, but I will find it again.

well the install finally happened. Grill heats up pretty good. Everything sizzles straight across. Assuming that the middle is going to be less hot as the flames are not directly under it. I will keep it as it is for now and I will be changing out the burners, I will probably go with an " H " style or a " U " style eventually. I want to do some test runs for burgers and steaks to see how they cook up and the times it takes. Should only take a minute or three with the steaks.  Here are some pics of the battle warrior I like to call MONGO GRILL. LOL
 

The flame looks good in the pic.   Are you getting any smoking or black smoke with the grill plate down?
 
Anyway ... good luck & hope it works great.

no black smoke or smoke that I saw when it was heating up. It is a pretty old griddle top I will say. However it was pretty dark when I was doing it. I noticed after awhile with all vents closed and window/ door shut it was pretty smokey.  Def gonna need a vent hood for sure.
 
I can't wait to get it fired up tomorrow for lunch and see what throws together. I'm gonna get a cheap frying pan lid to use to help things along. Gonna need to get to RD soon too for supplies to clean it. Whats the best thing to clean these grills with ???

The black smoke I'm referring to will be on the bottom of the grill plate and maybe visible from the combustion vents.   This would be the result of the plate being too close to the burner and interfering with the proper combustion air/mixture ratio; thus more carbon monoxide in the air.   ... the smoke you are seeing is most likely from the oi/grease burning on top of the grill. 

Hey Wild, I love your griddle and I have the same stove on my cart. Just use caution, this stove was designed to be used outside. I would be cautious because of carbon monoxide. Safety first.
 
Billy

i use these stoves as my steam table too. Haven't had any issues with that. The grill burns nice and hot for the most part. I gotta season the top some more. It's an old top. I cooked on it tonight at my auction and out out about 12 1/3lb burgers. My only issue is they are sticking sometimes. I'm sure once I season it again , all should be ok.

The fun part is going to be cleaning it tonite when I'm done. It's nice and black lol but I've been scrubbing it as I go best I can. I def gotta get to the supply house tomorrow and get cleaner , scrubbers, nd a scraper. Tonight will be just water, degreaser, and a green scrubby.